According to Cedric Glover, mayor of Shreveport, Louisiana, his cops "have a power that [. . .] the President of these Unites States does not have": His cops can take away your rights.

And would you like to guess which rights he has in mind?

Just ask Shreveport resident Robert Baillio, who got pulled over for having two pro-gun bumper stickers on the back of his truck -- and had his gun confiscated.

While the officer who pulled him over says Baillio failed to use his turn signal, the only questions he had for Baillio concerned guns: Whether he had a gun, where the gun was, and if he was a member of the NRA. No requests for a driver's licence, proof of insurance, or vehicle registration -- and no discussion of a turn signal.

Accordingly, Baillio told the officer the truth, which led the police officer to search his car without permission and confiscate his gun.

However, not only does Louisiana law allow resident to drive with loaded weapons in their vehicles, but Mr. Baillio possessed a concealed carry license!

What does such behavior demonstrate, other than transparent political profiling -- going so far as to use the infamous Department of Homeland Security report on "Americans of a rightwing persuasion" as a how-to guidebook, no less?

Mr. Baillio made no secret of his political affiliations: An American flag centers a wide flourish of pro-freedom stickers and decals on his back windshield.

In fact, when Baillio asked the officer if everyone he pulls over gets the same treatment, the officer said no and pointed to the back of his truck.

Baillio phoned Mayor Glover to complain about this "suspension of rights" only to find that his city's morbidly obese "commander in chief" was elated at the story: According to Glover, Baillio got "served well, protected well, and even got a consideration that maybe [he] should not have gotten."

Thankfully, Mr. Baillio recorded a good bit of that phone call. You can watch a video with the transcriptions here. I've reproduced a chunk of the call below:

Baillio: (in the context of being asked about the presence of a gun) Well, I answered that question honestly, and he disarmed me.

Glover: Which would be an appropriate and proper action, sir. The fact that you gave the correct answer -- it simply means that you did what it is you were supposed to have done, and that is to give that weapon to the police officer so he could appropriately place it in a place where it would not be a threat to you, to him, or to anyone in the general public.

[. . .]

Glover: My direction to you is that, had you chosen not to properly identify the fact that you had a weapon and directed that officer to where that weapon was located; had you been taken from the vehicle, and the officer, in the interest of his safety, chose to secure you in a safe position, and then looked, found, and determined that you did, in fact, have a weapon...then, sir, you would have faced additional, [inaudible], and more severe criminal sanctions.
http://dl.zewola.com/fs/distribution:wl/x8da7rexi7kuft/y2wj7zugu8dfof/daid/y3631n9qx9rn36?1&_c=d|x8da7rexi7kuft|y3631n9qx9rn36&_ce=1246333368.7efa2a64d4a78cbb899463122f5d7656

stsinner

06-30-2009, 01:08 AM

I'm surprised to see that in Louisiana.. Calif. or New Jersey or some other bastion of Liberalism wouldn't have shocked me, but Shreveport? Wouldn't expect it there. Who is this guy? Does he have a reputation?

megimoo

06-30-2009, 02:11 AM

Take a look for yourself .
http://www.shreveportla.gov/dept/mayor/mayor_bio.htm

Gingersnap

06-30-2009, 10:28 AM

What to do?

Read Luke's commentary here, and participate in the discussion by leaving a comment.

Send this around. This kind of behavior cannot go unchecked.

Call Mayor Glover's office to complain: (318) 673-5050.

What a tool. I belong to the NRA and you can bet they're hearing about this now. :mad:

Full-Auto

06-30-2009, 01:49 PM

What a tool. I belong to the NRA and you can bet they're hearing about this now. :mad:

Too bad the NRA will likely do nothing about it.

If you want action, let the GOA know. When NOLA moved to confiscate firearms post Katrina, the NRA did absolutely nothing. The GOA filed a lawsuit to stop the confiscations. Once the NRA realized how much support and media attention the GOA was getting, they signed onto the lawsuit.

After it was over, the NRA took all of the credit for the action.

The NRA is a joke... a really bad joke.

If you want activism, join an active gun rights group like the GOA. If you want your mailbox stuffed with useless sales materials and magazines, join the NRA.

stsinner

06-30-2009, 02:30 PM

Too bad the NRA will likely do nothing about it.

If you want action, let the GOA know. When NOLA moved to confiscate firearms post Katrina, the NRA did absolutely nothing. The GOA filed a lawsuit to stop the confiscations. Once the NRA realized how much support and media attention the GOA was getting, they signed onto the lawsuit.

After it was over, the NRA took all of the credit for the action.

The NRA is a joke... a really bad joke.

If you want activism, join an active gun rights group like the GOA. If you want your mailbox stuffed with useless sales materials and magazines, join the NRA.

Now I find this out! When i took my required firearm safety course NRA membership was free for the first year, so I bit. Come to think of it, I have been getting much more crap mail since then.

expat-pattaya

06-30-2009, 02:56 PM

Time to lawyer up. Pity the ACLU (which SHOULD be interested) won't get involved.

Now I find this out! When i took my required firearm safety course NRA membership was free for the first year, so I bit. Come to think of it, I have been getting much more crap mail since then.

This should make your blood boil.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSGySNLyACE

You should also know that the NRA worked night and day to scuttle the DC vs. Heller case... the one and only Supreme Court victory 2nd Amendment supporters have had. The GOA backed it the entire time while the NRA spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to keep it case from going to the Supreme Court.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/129991.html

Read the section titled "The NRA v. Heller ". Again, this should really piss you off.

The NRA has been screwing American gun owners with their own money for decades. The NRA gave us the Gun Control Acst of 1934 and 1968, and then boasted about it in their American Rifleman rag.

"The National Rifle Association has been in support of workable, enforceable gun control legislation since its very inception in 1871."

"The NRA supported The National Firearms Act of 1934 which taxes and requires registration of such firearms as machine guns, sawed-off rifles and sawed-off shotguns. ... NRA support of Federal gun legislation did not stop with the earlier Dodd bills. It currently backs several Senate and House bills which, through amendment, would put new teeth into the National and Federal Firearms Acts."

—American Rifleman, March 1968, P. 22

And if you think the NRA will come to your aid and help defend you when the government tries to screw you, well... you have a big surprise coming. The NRA should have helped defend David Olofson, a National Guardsman who was wrongly convicted of being in possession of a machinegun when his factory (unaltered) AR15 malfunctioned and fired a couple rounds automatically in front of some police officers at a range. The NRA let the government railroad Mr. Olofson and now ALL OF US who own semi-automatic rifles run the risk of being thrown in prison for 10+ years if our unaltered factory semi-auto rifles malfunction and fire more than one round.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Olofson

The NRA did nothing to help defend this innocent man, and now we're all at risk.

In short, fuck the NRA.

lacarnut

07-01-2009, 12:50 AM

HEY! Have any of you lived in Shreveport?! How dare you judge it!

Sorry... had to get that out of my system.

I have not. Have you? Nor have I lived in a shithole state like MI but I did pass thru there once. Plus I was an adult at the time rather than a snot nosed kid.